Page 24 of Trial of Deceit

Ashari smirked as she twirled some pasta onto the fork.“Can’t stay away from me, can you?”she asked while moving the fork to her mouth.She chewed slowly while watching Lyssa lower her head to hide a blush.Swallowing the delicious bite, she complimented Lyssa’s cooking.

Lyssa raised her head and thanked Ashari.She started eating, and they chatted for the next five minutes with Lyssa blushing whenever Ashari flirted with her.Their chatter was interrupted by a knock on the door.They snapped their heads in that direction.

“Who’s that?”Lyssa mouthed.

Shrugging, Ashari grabbed her gun before moving toward the door.She looked through the peephole, her lips parting as she stared at Jediah.

His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows as he moved a long cigar from his mouth and blew the fumes toward the door, blurring Ashari’s view.“I know you’re in there.”

She swallowed hard as her heart raced.“Y-yes?”

“I’m bringing you out to dinner.I want to make up for my behavior the other day.”

Ashari’s eyes drifted to his chest, peeking through the two undone buttons at the top of his shirt.Was that supposed to be attractive?She scowled and looked at Lyssa, who was stabbing at the pasta with knitted brows.“Fine.But me just hop outta the shower, so give me a minute fi put on clothes.”

Jediah nodded.He glanced at his watch before taking one step back.

Ashari rushed toward Lyssa and lowered her voice.“Sorry I can’t finish dinner with you.This case means everything to me.”

Lyssa nodded, then grabbed Ashari’s hand before she could walk away.“Promise me you won’t… have sex with him again?”

“I never did,” Ashari spoke the half-truth, and Lyssa’s eyes brightened.She hurried to the bedroom and got dressed in a pretty semi-formal dress.After securing her earrings, she slipped through the front door.

Jediah’s eyes raked up Ashari’s exposed legs, making her shudder from the unwelcome attention.His eyes met hers.They were unreadable, but that tiny smirk on his mouth said everything.“Aren’t you ravishing, little stranger?”

“Not My Ari anymore?”she asked as he pulled her to him by the waist.Her hand landed against his chest, and he inhaled a deep breath of her hair.

“I don’t know who you are…” he mumbled into her hair.“But it makes me want to find out.”

“Why you don’ ask the somebody weh give you the file pon me?”

“I tried.”Jediah pulled away to rest his cigar in the corner of his mouth.“But he found nothing.”

“So, wa dat mean?”

“Something about you, Ashari…” He trailed his eyes up and down her legs again, and a chill ran through her for the second time.Jediah saw, and he smirked before wrapping his arm around her waist and leading her down the hall.“Makes me want to find out all about you in a fun way.”

Ashari smirked as he held her close to him.If only he knew his smug confession made her job easier.Senior would never lie about protecting her, so she no longer worried about Jediah finding out the truth.By the time he did, he’d be rotting away in a dark prison cell.

Ashari snuck a glance at Jediah.He had one hand locked around the steering wheel.The other rested atop the gear stick with an unlit cigar tucked between his fingers.Ashari stared at the veins running up his hands until her focus locked onto the dagger tattoo on the knuckle of his index finger.His fingers were adorned with rings, one being silver with a fox emblem.

His hands were strong.It’d be easy for Jediah to choke her to death, then dispose of her on the unlit roadside.The sun hadn’t fully set yet, but these roads were dark, street lights being few and far between.

“Which restaurant—” Ashari shrieked as a vehicle slammed into them from behind.Her body shot forward.The seat belt dug into her skin while Jediah slapped his hand against the dashboard.Her head slammed against Jediah’s hand, his rings pressing into her forehead while he hissed and tried to get the spinning car under control.Ashari’s vision blurred, and her head felt dizzy as the carscreechedbefore hitting a tree.

“Are you good?”Jediah asked, helping her up so he could assess her.

She blinked until the dots in her vision cleared.The car’s bonnet was bent out of shape.Smoke rose from it.She nodded at Jediah while he swapped the cigar for a gun.

Jediah looked over his shoulder.“Keep your head down,” he said while a car’s bright headlights approached from behind.He took a gun out of the glove compartment and handed it to her.“Do you know how to use it?”he asked, and Ashari quickly shook her head.Jediah sucked in a breath.“Okay.Just stay here.”

“Don’t die,” she whispered while undoing her seat belt.She slid off her seat and made herself small in the space between the backseat and the front seat.

Jediah smirked.“I won’t die before I figure you out.”

Ashari watched as he pushed against the door, trying to force away the tree branches that blocked them in.Finally, the door opened.Jediah slipped out, then quietly closed the door behind him.His feet cracked dead twigs as he moved around the car, trying to find a vantage spot before the other car came closer.

Light flooded the area as the car slowed.Footsteps moved across the road, approaching Jediah’s car before bullets sprayed the SUV.The force shook the car.Ashari curled her hand around the gun as she moved her hands to her ears, trying to block out the deafening sound of the flying bullets.